The Sessions - April 2024
Crucians on Steroids
March saw a poor end to the river season for me, and my early spring Crucian and Bream trips didn’t go to plan with very cold rough weather at Johnsons, and Carp and Catfish pouncing on my Bream bait. April has been kind to me in recent seasons so I hoped that would continue this spring.
5 April 2024 – Johnsons Lake, Marsh Farm
The week had been a lot milder with temps up to 17 degrees with a lot of rain, as I drove down after work on the Friday evening there were showers and it felt very mild. The journey down the M1/M25/A3 was the usual nightmare and took twice as long as it should, the A3 / junction 10 roadworks have been going on for two years now and it doesn’t look any bloody different and causes chaos, it almost puts me off going. To cap it all off I arrived at 17:30 to find the lake packed and the busiest I’d ever seen it.
I had an area in mind that doesn’t see much attention as it is really tight and with the wind pumping into that corner, I felt it was well worth a try, especially if I couldn’t get into one of the swims I wanted. I walked round the lake and found all the swims I wanted were taken and some had people sat behind them with full barrows waiting to drop in so at one point I thought I may have to go on to Harris Lake or go home. As I got round to the Railway bank it was packed but the little tight spot I thought about was vacant and gave me a good amount of water without any lines even close to it, it was a no brainer so I set the shelter up and went back to the van for the rest of the gear.
I did have a feel around with a light lead as it is shallower and tends to be weedy but found a nice clear area at ten and a quarter wraps and put five spombs of hemp/caster/2mm pellet on the spot.
Both rods were set up on my reliable Crucian set-up, 1m of sinking braid as a leader, 35g method feeders, very short hooklink, size 14 hooks, with fake caster on one and small fake corn on the other.
By 19:30 I was fishing, it was lovely and mild, cloudy with a pretty strong southerly wind coming onto my area and I sat back with a brew feeling pretty confident, the Crucians had not woken up yet but with the milder weather it looked good….
I had four bites in the first two hours, a small Carp, two Tench to 6 plus and a Crucian at 3-01 and really felt I was on for good session.
6 April 2024
I did leave baits out all night but other than two small Carp it was quiet with the only thing keeping me awake was the trains. It was very mild and the wind very strong making baiting up a little more difficult as I put five spombs in at first light.
I had four takes through the morning, a low double Common and three Tench all between 5-7 pound and they all fell to the corn rod, so with that I changed the caster rod to a small pineapple yellow wafter.
The day was 17 degrees and very windy and it had gone quiet so at 16:30 I gave the swim a hit of eight spombs of mix and changed the boilie back to caster. It had the desired affect and through the evening I had four more Tench all in the 5-6 pound range.
As it got dark I had a Rudd and two 12oz Carp and the wind was so strong I couldn’t cast accurately and keep the feeders on the baited area so I reeled in for some sleep.
7 April 2024
By 04:30 the wind had dropped enough to be able to cast accurately so I flicked the rigs onto the spots and put six spombs of bait out.
I only had one bite four hours later and as soon as I picked up I knew it wasn’t a Crucian as it tore 40m line of the spool and shot down the Railway bank, slowly but surely it came back, with no weed it wasn’t a race, and I slowly coaxed it towards the net two swims down, resulting in a Common at 21-03 to finish the session.
The journey home was a shocker with the roadworks on the A3, a road closure on the M25 with a detour and two sets of roadworks on the A1 taking me nearly four hours to get home!!
10 April 2024 – Johnsons Lake, Marsh Farm
The lake closes every year on 15 April and I like to finish the season there with the chance of a big fish and improving my British record of 4-12. I got up and left home at 03:20 to try to beat the early traffic and arrive nice and early so was gutted when I got to the M25 to find it closed between junctions 18-20 with another detour. After navigating that it was a clear journey and I arrived at 05:30 to find frost on the grass after a cooler few days and cold night.
The wind was still blowing into the area I fished at the weekend and with only two caught and both in that area I wanted to be there so walked round to find most of the Railway free so I set my shelter up in my favourite swim and went back for the gear.
The rods were already clipped up perfectly, so I put five spombs of bait out and cast the rigs onto the spot, one on fake caster and the other fake corn, got the cooker out and did my breakfast and a brew.
By mid-morning it had clouded over with light showers and warmed up and looked perfect conditions with a lovely ripple on the water. The first take was on caster and was clearly not a Crucian and very heavy, it went on some long slow runs but slowly came to the net and was a lump of a Common at 34-12, a real Crucian on steroids. Playing big fish on light tackle is all about patience and trusting your clutch and set up, its even easier if there is no weed about, just take your time and generally they are landed 😊
An hour later the corn rod went, this was a Tench at 6-10, I weighed it to check my guestimations and had to chuckle as I’d clearly put 7’s back at the weekend. I topped the swim up with another five spombs of bait.
90 minutes later the caster rod went again with another Carp, a middle double Mirror, and before I could cast back out the corn rod went with another heavy fish that would not give up, the fight seemed to go on and on but eventually the tackle held firm and it slipped into the net, a Mirror at 29-06, what a crazy hour playing both in the rain.
It continued to rain all afternoon and evening but the fish kept coming with another two 6 pound plus Tench, a low double Common and another big Carp that came off in the margin after a long fight. By 22:30 I was soaked with both my coats wet through and tired after my early start so I reeled in for some sleep and to dry out.
11 April 2024
By 03:20 it had stopped rained and was cloudy and mild, so I got up and cast the rigs out, the caster rod went straight away with another good Tench.
It was another five hours before I got another take this time on the corn rod and I landed the best Tench so far at 7-06.
I got regular bites through the day but they were all Tench in the 5-6 pound class, good fun but not what I was fishing for and I started to get itchy feet. It was later in the day I heard a 3-11 had been caught on the other side of the lake, the only one since the weekend, so I had to make a decision, my thinking was the Carp and Tench were certainly keeping any feeding Crucians away from my bait so I had to move to have any chance. So I packed the swim down and slept in the van and moved the following morning.
12 April 2024
I got up at first light and went to an area that has never been that kind to me but where I have seen good Crucians caught in spring, going more on instinct than experience. I walked round there to find all the swims free and set up in a swim that gave me a lot of water that wouldn’t see lines by some distance either side.
It is shallower but with the milder weather it was worth a shot and I felt more confident with the new wind blowing onto the area. I put five spombs of mix at ten wraps and flicked the rigs into place. I had a Tench straight away that had me thinking Crucian all the way to the net but it was another 5 pounder.
The sun came out and it was a lovely day but very quiet with no fish showing and only the Carp anglers doing well with one guy catching quite a few at range. By mid-afternoon I instinctively changed the corn to dark casters and it went very quickly with the first Crucian of the trip at 2-13, that was followed by another at 3-04 and I really felt at that point I’d found them.
But they ghosted away again and the Tench and Carp had followed and found me, I had two Tench to 6-06 and another big heavy Mirror at 30-01.
13 April 2024
I’d put some bait in through the evening and the Carp were on it in a flash and I had two more through the night with Commons at 29-00 and 25-14.
The rest of the day was very quiet, it was up to 18 degrees with a nice wind and looked perfect, but the fish switched off, most anglers had given up and left, I’ve never seen it so empty at the end of the season.
I carried on and the Tench did turn up in the evening with four more to 7-01 and when the small bars of soap started I reeled in for some sleep and packed away in the morning after the gear had dried out without another bite.
It was a poor spring for the Crucians with all the anglers experiencing the same, let’s hope it was a blip and they are all still there for next season.
24 April 2024, Walthamstow Reservoirs.
My planning for a big Bream water hadn’t quite worked out with both tickets I planned to join not starting until June 16 and I felt the week of cold northerly winds would have put the Tench off so after a lot of messages exchanged with my pal Neale I took the plunge and drove down to Walthamstow for a recce day session.
It is 46 miles door to gate but I wanted to get down early to avoid the traffic and be able to have a look if possible so I left home at 4:45 and arrived just before 6:00, it was all locked up but I could look down the reservoir from the road and stood there watching for approx. 30 mins before the first angler arrived. Local knowledge is always worth knowing so I went over to chat, he was a Carp angler and was happy to share his experience and give me areas to look at for the Bream.
The bailiff arrived, I got my ticket and was first on as I’d arrived first and walked down the path at 06:50, I didn’t want to be in the face of the easterly wind so walked down the reservoir to an area where I could see most of the water and be able to see rolling fish. I planned to start with caution and put a little bait in and watch the water, if I saw fish rolling I would move onto them. I started with 10 spombs of bait with my mix being; hemp, caster, 2mm pellet, corn, a few 10mm Pandemic and some groundbait, once that was done I put three method feeders on the spot, two on yellow wafters and one of three fake casters.
It started to warm up after a chilly start and was cloudy with sunny spells and an easterly wind, it was surprisingly quiet considering I was in London and my first impressions were good. I made plenty of new friends with the Geese that sat in the swim most of the day eating anything that I dropped and a Fox that kept coming and going all day.
It was very busy with people as you would expect in a public park but it does take some getting use too.
By 13:00 I’d not seen a fish caught or show anywhere so I had a choice to make, move or put a good hit of bait in, I decided to stay put and put 15 spombs of bait on the spot, the Tuffties and Coots had not left the spot alone all morning but I was confident they would only clear the bigger items leaving lots of smaller bits for fish to graze over.
The first bite came out of the blue at 15:20 and while I was playing it Bream were rolling over the spot, I really expected the other rods to go straight away, I quickly re-wrapped the rod and cast back out and they were still rolling. I weighed the fish at a very pleasing 12-00 on my first visit and slipped it back. But then the rolling stopped and I thought they’d moved on.
I topped the spot up with another 5 spombs at 17:00, the birds had not left the area and had been diving all day, 40 minutes later the rod went again with another lovely fish, a male at 11-15. I carried on until 19:00 and packed away very happy with my first trip and already planning a return.
On reflection I feel I should have caught more, they were on the baited area and I only had the two, very pleasing but I know I should have caught more, so will have my thinking cap on for hook baits when I return.
Until next month, tight lines and be lucky 😊
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